THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES PROB 11/42B/105 1 SUMMARY: The ... · appointed as executor Cyriac Petit, a party in the lawsuit alluded to in the gravediggers’ scene in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES PROB 11/42B/105 1 ________________________________________________________________________

Modern spelling transcript copyright ©2014 Nina Green All Rights Reserved http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/

SUMMARY: The document below is the Prerogative Court of Canterbury copy of the will, dated 6 December 1558 and proved 25 April 1559, of Sir Thomas Cheyney (c.1485-1558), the grandfather of Alice (nee Kempe) Hales Lee (d.1592), the dedicatee of Robert Greene’s Menaphon (1589), to which Thomas Nashe contributed a preface. The testator was also the grandfather of Anne (nee Kempe) Shirley (c.1542-1623), who married Sir Thomas Shirley (c.1542-1612), by whom she was the mother of Sir Thomas Shirley (1564–1633/4), who married Frances Vavasour, the sister of Oxford’s mistress, Anne Vavasour. For her will, see TNA PROB 11/141/330. In his will proved 5 February 1599, TNA PROB 11/94/3, Anne Kempe’s uncle, Anthony Kempe, left his mansion in the Blackfriars to Anne and her husband, Sir Thomas Shirley (c.1542-1612) rent free for a year after his death: Item, my will is that my nephew, Sir Thomas Shirley, and my niece his wife, shall have and quietly enjoy my mansion house in the Blackfriars for one whole year after my decease, paying nothing for the same house for the said year, and after the end of the said year, my will is that my executors shall not put them out, but use them with all kindness for the rent thereof. The testator’s daughter, Frances Cheyney, married Nicholas Crispe, who in his will appointed as executor Cyriac Petit, a party in the lawsuit alluded to in the gravediggers’ scene in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In 1601 Cuthbert and Richard Burbage purchased from Sir Christopher More tenements in the Blackfriars which were subject to a life estate held by the testator’s daughter-in-law, Margaret Neville. The testator obtained licence in 1544 to alienate lands and buildings formerly belonging to Faversham abbey to Thomas Arden, the subject of the anonymous Elizabethan play, Arden of Faversham. The family surname is variously spelled Chayney, Cheyney, Cheyne and Chayne in the PCC copy of the will. The spelling ‘Cheyney’ has been used throughout the transcript below. FAMILY BACKGROUND Testator’s father The testator was the son of William Cheyne (d. 8 May 1487), esquire, of Shurland by his second wife. See the inquisition post mortem taken after the death of William Cheyne, TNA C 142/14/3, and the summary at:



Maskelyne and H. C. Maxwell Lyte, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry VII, Entries 201-250', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Series 2, Volume 2, Henry VII (London, 1915), pp. 132-169. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/series2-vol2/pp132-169 [accessed 8 September 2019]. The testator’s father, William Cheyne (d. 8 May 1487), married firstly Isabel Boleyn (d. 23 April 1485), the daughter of Sir Geoffrey Boleyn (d.1463), Lord Mayor of London, by whom he had a son, Sir Francis Cheyne (c.1482 - 20 January 1512), the testator’s half brother. See the Boleyn pedigree and the transcript of the will of Sir Geoffrey Boleyn in Gurney, Daniel, Supplement to the Record of the House of Gournay, (King’s Lynn: Thew & Son, Publishers, 1858), pp. 830-40. See also the inquisition post mortem taken after the death of Francis Cheyne, TNA C 142/27/18, and Brock, Richard Egbert, ‘The Courtier in Early Tudor Society’, Ph.D thesis, University of London, October 1963, pp. 16-17, available online at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/83945863.pdf Thomas Cheyne was a man of Kent, the son by a second wife of William Cheyne of Shurland in the Isle of Sheppey. The family, which had a collateral link with the Tudors, had been settled in the Isle since the fourteenth century when a Cheyne had married the heiress of Shurland. Thomas’ mother was Margaret [sic] Yonge. His father’s first wife was Isabella, daughter of Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, by whom he had a son, Francis. Thomas’ grandfather, Sir John Cheyne of Eastchurch in Sheppey and Woodhay, Berks, father of nine sons, was pardoned for being out with Jack Cade. William died in 1487, when Francis was five years old. The brothers then passed into the care of their uncle, John Cheyne . . . . Testator’s mother According to Brock, supra, the History of Parliament, and the ODNB, the testator’s mother was Margaret Young. See the History of Parliament entry at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/cheyne-sir-thomas-148287-1558 b. 1482/87, 1st s. of William Cheyne (d. 8 May 1487) of Shurland by 2nd w. Margaret Young. m. (1) by 1515, Frideswide (d.1528/29), da. and h. of Sir Thomas Frowick of Finchley, Mdx., 1s. 3da.; (2) disp. 24 May 1539, Anne, da. of Sir John Broughton of Toddington, Beds., 1s. Henry† 1da.; 1s. 1da. illegit. suc. half-bro. 20 Jan. 1512. Kntd. by 10 Nov. 1513, KG nom. 23 Apr. inst. 18 May 1539.4 See also the ODNB: Cheyne, Sir Thomas (c. 1485–1558), administrator and diplomat, was the eldest son of William Cheyne of Shurland, Isle of Sheppey, Kent (d. 1487), and his second wife,



Margaret Young. The eldest of nine brothers, William Cheyne was constable of Queenborough Castle in Kent and sheriff of the county in 1477–8. Upon William's death his property in Kent passed to Francis, the son of his first marriage. After Francis's death in 1512 Thomas succeeded to these estates, but because of involved inheritance patterns failed to obtain title to further family lands in Berkshire. Thomas Cheyne married twice. His first wife, whom he married by 1515, was Frideswide, daughter and heir of Chief Justice Sir Thomas Frowyk of Finchley, Middlesex, with whom he had a son, John, and three daughters. She died in 1528 or 1529, and ten years later he married Anne (d. 1562), daughter of Sir John Broughton of Toddington, Bedfordshire; they had a son, Henry, and a daughter. Thomas also had an illegitimate son and daughter. It appears the testator’s mother was Agnes, not Margaret, and that she was the daughter of Sir John Yonge, Lord Mayor of London. See the will, dated 9 July 1487 and proved 23 June 1488, TNA PROB 11/8/209, of Agnes Cheyne in which she refers to the testator as her son by her late husband, William Cheyne, esquire. See also the will of her father, Sir John Yonge, TNA PROB 11/7/54, in which he refers to his three daughters, ‘my Lady Parce, my daughter Molynenge and my daughter Burge’. Stow’s Survey’s identifies Agnes Yonge’s three husbands as Robert Sherington, Robert Molyneux, and William Cheyney. See: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42959/42959-h/42959-h.htm Sir John Yong, grocer, mayor 1466; Agnes, daughter to Sir John Yong, first married to Robert Sherington, after to Robert Mulleneux, then to William Cheyney, esquire. Testator’s siblings In her will, the testator’s mother mentions three other children, Joan, Edmund and John. It appears these were her children by either her first husband, Robert Sherington, or her second husbnad, Robert Molyneux, and thus the testator’s siblings of the half blood. MARRIAGES AND ISSUE Testator’s first marriage The testator married firstly, by 1515, Frideswide Frowyk (1499 – before April 1528), the daughter of Sir Thomas Frowyk (c.1460-1506), by whom he had a son and three daughters: * John Cheyney, who married Margaret Neville, the daughter of George Neville (c.1469-1535), 3rd Baron Bergavenny, and his third wife, Mary Stafford. John Cheyney was slain at the siege of Montreuil in 1544, and his widow, Margaret, married secondly Henry Poole (d. 28 March 1580), esquire, of Ditchling, Sussex, by whom she had six sons. For Henry Poole see his will, dated 28 January 1580 and proved 5 May 1580, with



grant of administration to his wife, Margaret, TNA PROB 11/62/182; and the history of Parliament entry at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/poole-henry-i-1526-80 b. by 1526, 2nd s. of Leonard Poole of Sapperton, Glos. by Catherine, da. of Sir Giles Brydges of Coberley, Glos.; bro. of Sir Giles. m. Margaret, da. of George Neville, 5th Lord Bergavenny, wid. of John Cheyne (d.1544), 6s.1 See also Richardson, Douglas, Plantagenet Ancestry, 2nd ed., 2011, Vol. I, p. 244 at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=kjme027UeagC&pg=PA244 See also Rutton, W.L., ‘Cheney of Shurland, Kent, and of Toddington, Beds.’, in Archaeologia Cantiana, 1900, Vol. 24, pp. 122-7 at: http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.024%20-%201900/page%20v%20+%20vi%20%20contents.htm See also Sussex Archaeological Collections, (Lewes: George P. Bacon, 1878), Vol. XXVIII, pp. 134-6 at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=oITRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA136 One of Margaret Neville Cheyney Poole’s sisters, Dorothy Neville (d. 22 September 1559), was the first wife of William Brooke (1527-1597), 10th Baron Cobham, who served as Lord Chamberlain from 8 August 1596 until his death at the Blackfriars on 6 March 1597. Another sister, Ursula Neville (d.1575), was the mother of Anne St Leger, who married firstly Thomas Digges (c.1546 – 24 August 1595), and secondly Thomas Russell, the overseer of the will of William Shakespeare of Stratford upon Avon. See the will of William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham, BL Lansdowne 830, f. 249; the will of Thomas Digges, TNA PROB 11/86/204; the will of Thomas Russell, TNA PROB 11/165/424; and Richardson, Douglas, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd ed., 2011, Vol. II, p. 82, and Vol. III, p. 482. Margaret Neville Cheyney Poole was still living as late as 1601. See Feuillerat, infra, p. 70, and Smith, Irwin, Shakespeare’s Blackfriars Playhouse, (New York University Press, 1964), p. 126: In 1601, nearly thirty years after the award, Cuthbert and Richard Burbage were to purchase from More certain tenements and yards that were still subject to the life tenure of Margaret Poole. In the will below the testator leaves his property in the Blackfriars to his daughter-in-law, Margaret Neville Cheyney Pole, as her jointure. Mention is made of her and of the



Blackfriars property in an indenture dated 20 March 1585 between Sir William More (1520-1600) of Loseley and the fence-master, Rocco Bonetti (d.1587). See Folger MS L.b.352, and Feuillerat, Albert, Blackfriars Records, (Oxford University Press: Malone Society, 1913), pp. 55-60 at: https://archive.org/stream/collectionspt102malouoft#page/54/mode/2up * Anne Cheyney (d.1553), who married Sir John Perrot (1528–1592), Lord Deputy of Ireland, by whom she was the mother of Sir Thomas Perrot (1553-1594), who married Dorothy Devereux, the sister of Robert Devereux (1565-1601), 2nd Earl of Essex. See the ODNB entry for Sir John Perrot: Marriage, too, may have eased the burden of debt inasmuch as Perrot could expect his bride, Ann, to be well provided for, she being the daughter of Sir Thomas Cheyney of Shurland, Kent. Tragically, his wife died in September 1553 while giving birth to a son, Thomas (d. 1594), who survived briefly to succeed his father in 1592. See also the History of Parliament entry for Sir John Perrot at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/perrot-sir-john-15289-92 See also the History of Parliament entry for Sir Thomas Perrot at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/perrot-sir-thomas-1553-94 b. Aug./Sept. 1553, 1st s. of Sir John Perrot by his 1st w. Anne, da. of Sir Thomas Cheyne(y)† of Shurland, Kent. m. 3583, Dorothy, da. of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, 1s. 1da. Kntd. 1579; suc. fa. 1593. * Frances Cheyney (d. 20 November 1561), who married Nicholas Crispe (b. by 1530, d.1564), for whom see the History of Parliament entry at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/crispe-%28cripse%29-nicholas-1530-64 b. by 1530, 1st s. of (Sir) Henry Crispe by 1st w. educ. G. Inn, adm. 1544. m. (1) by 1549, Frances, da. of Sir Thomas Cheyne of the Blackfriars, London and Shurland, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, 1da.; (2) in or aft. 1561, Mary, da. of Christopher Glemham of Glemham, Suff.1 After the death of Frances Cheyney on 20 November 1561, Nicholas Crispe married Mary Glemham. In his will, dated 26 July 1564, but not proved until 27 January 1575, TNA PROB 11/56/44, Nicholas Crispe appointed as executors his wife, Mary, and Cyriac



Petit, a party in the lawsuit alluded to in the gravediggers’ scene in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. For Cyriac Petit, see the History of Parliament entry at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/petyt-cyriak-1517-91 In September 1544 Petyt paid £476 for former monastic property in Canterbury and London, in the following year he was given charge of eight Kent manors belonging to the court of augmentations, and in 1547 he attended the funeral of Henry VIII as an esquire. He purchased no further lands under Edward VI, during whose reign he is recorded on only one commission, but in November 1554 Petyt and John Webbe paid £80 for the remainder of a lease at Boughton under Blean, which had reverted to the see of Canterbury (whose temporalities were then in the Queen’s hands) on the suicide of Sir James Hales, son of John Hales I. That the lease was thus forfeit was unsuccessfully disputed by Hales’s widow in the celebrated lawsuit, Hales v. Petit. Petyt and his family were living at Boughton by May 1557, when they acquired further lands at Faversham and Graveney.6 * Katherine Cheyney (d. before 1550), who married, as his first wife, Sir Thomas Kempe (1517-1591) of Olantigh in Wye, Kent. Three of their daughters are referred to in the will below: -Anne Kempe (c.1542-1623), who married Sir Thomas Shirley (c.1542-1612), by whom she was the mother of Sir Thomas Shirley (1564–1633/4), who married Frances Vavasour, the sister of Oxford’s mistress, Anne Vavasour. For the will of Anne (nee Kempe) Shirley, see TNA PROB 11/141/330. For Sir Thomas Shirley (c.1542-1612), see the ODNB entry, and the History of Parliament entry at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/shirley-thomas-i-1542-1612 In his will proved 5 February 1599, TNA PROB 11/94/3, Anne Kempe’s uncle, Anthony Kempe, left his mansion in the Blackfriars to Anne and her husband, Sir Thomas Shirley (c.1542-1612) rent free for a year after his death: Item, my will is that my nephew, Sir Thomas Shirley, and my niece his wife, shall have and quietly enjoy my mansion house in the Blackfriars for one whole year after my decease, paying nothing for the same house for the said year, and after the end of the said year, my will is that my executors shall not put them out, but use them with all kindness for the rent thereof. -Alice Kempe (1550-1592), to whom Robert Greene dedicated Menaphon. She married firstly Sir James Hales (d.1589), grandson of Sir James Hales (d.1554) whose death is alluded to in the gravedigger’s speech in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and secondly Sir Richard Lee (d.1608), illegitimate half-brother of Queen Elizabeth’s champion, Sir Henry Lee



(d.1611). Sir Henry Lee’s mistress in his latter years was Oxford’s former mistress, Anne Vavasour. For Sir Richard Lee, see the History of Parliament entry at: http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1558-1603/member/lee-richard-1548-1608 b. bef. 1548, illegit. s. of Sir Anthony Lee† of Quarrendon, Bucks. by Ann, da. of Richard Hassall of Hassall and Hankelow, Cheshire; half-bro. of Sir Henry and Robert Lee. m. (1) Mary, da. of John Blundell† of Finmere and Steeple Barton, Oxon., wid. of Sir Gerald Croker of Hook Norton, 1s. d.v.p.; (2) 1589, Alice, da. of Sir Thomas Kempe of Olantigh, Wye, Kent, wid. of Sir James Hales of Dane John, Canterbury. Kntd. 1 June 1600.2 -Margaret Kempe. According to the History of Parliament, Margaret Kempe was also the daughter of Sir Thomas Kempe by his first wife, Katherine Cheyney, and married, as his first wife, William Cromer (d. 12 May 1598), esquire, of Tunstall, Kent, by whom she had a daughter, Anne Cromer. Margaret Kempe had died by 1 October 1561, when William Cromer married Elizabeth Guildford, the daughter of Sir John Guildford (d. 5 July 1565) and Barbara West, the daughter of Thomas West (c.1457 – 11 October 1525), 8th Lord la Warr. See Magna Carta Ancestry, supra, Vol. I, p. 327; Vol. II, p. 314, Vol. IV, pp. 320-2; the will of Sir John Guildford, TNA PROB 11/48/216; the Wikipedia entries for Sir John Guildford and Thomas West, 8th Lord la Warr, edited by the author of this summary; and the History of Parliament entry for Sir John Guildford at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/guildford-john-1508-65 See also the History of Parliament entry for William Cromer at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/cromer-william-1531-98 b. c.1531, o.s. of James Cromer by Anne, da. of Sir Edward Wotton of Boughton Place, Boughton Malherbe, Kent. educ. Furnival’s Inn; G. Inn 1552. m. (1) Margaret, da. of Sir Thomas Kempe, 1da.; (2) 1 Oct. 1561, Elizabeth, da. of Sir John Guildford†, 1 surv. s., 3da.; (3) Catherine, s.p. suc. fa. 1541.1 In the will below, the testator mentions William Cromer and his daughter by ‘Thomas Kempe’s daughter’: Item, I bequeath to William Cromer, esquire, son-in-law to Sir Thomas Kempe, knight, fifty pounds and a horse or a gelding upon condition that the daughter of the said William Cromer by the said Sir Thomas Kempe’s daughter had do permit and suffer Richard Daper and his assigns to hold and enjoy her part of the said lands and tenements (blank) South Mimms unto the end of the years contained in the lease that I made, yielding the rent and performing the covenants as aforesaid.



The wording, although ambiguous, leaves open the possibility that ‘Sir Thomas Kempe’s daughter’, i.e. Margaret Kempe, who married William Cromer, was, in fact, the testator’s granddaughter, i.e. the daughter of Sir Thomas Kempe (1517-1591) by his first wife, Katherine Cheyney. If so, this clause indicates that the testator’s granddaughter, Margaret Kempe, had died before the testator made his will on 6 December 1558. According to the History of Parliament, Anne Cromer, William Cromer’s daughter by Margaret Kempe, married, by 19 September 1577, Sir Thomas Bishopp (1553-1626) of Parham, Sussex, as his first wife, but died without issue. See: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/bishopp-sir-thomas-1553-1626 See also ‘Bishopp of Parham’ in The English Baronetage, Vol. I, (London: Thomas Wotton, 1741), pp. 416-17 at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=ciwUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA416 The History of Parliament entry for Sir Thomas Kempe (1517-1591) erroneously states that by his first wife, Katherine Cheyney, he had a daughter, Dorothy Kempe, who married Thomas Chicheley. See: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/kempe-sir-thomas-1517-91 Four of his five daughters married Elizabethan Members—Thomas Chicheley, William Cromer, Richard Lee and Thomas Shirley I.7 See also the History of Parliament entry for Sir Thomas Chicheley (c.1578-1603) at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/chicheley-thomas-1578-1616 The History of Parliament entries are clearly an error. Thomas Chicheley married the granddaughter of Thomas Kempe (1517-1591), i.e. Dorothy Kempe, the daughter of Sir Thomas Kempe (baptized 7 November 1551, d.1607?) by his second wife, Dorothy Thompson. See Magna Carta Ancestry, supra, Vol. III, p. 277 at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=8JcbV309c5UC&pg=RA2-PA277 See also the will of Dorothy (nee Thompson) Kempe, dated 14 November 1626 and proved 15 May 1629, TNA PROB 11/155/578. For the daughters of Sir Thomas Kempe (1517-1591), see also the pedigree after p. 46 in Hitchin-Kemp, Frederick, A General History of the Kemp and Kempe Families, (London: The Leadenhall Press, 1902) at:



https://archive.org/stream/generalhistoryof00kemp#page/n139/mode/2up After the death of his first wife, the testator’s daughter, Katherine Cheyney, Sir Thomas Kempe (1517-1591) married secondly Amy Moyle, sister of For further details concerning the three marriages of the testator’s son-in-law, Sir Thomas Kempe (1517-1591), see the will of his father, Sir William Kempe (1487 – 28 January 1539), TNA PROB 11/27/500. Testator’s second marriage The testator married secondly Anne Broughton (d. 15 May 1562), whose father, Sir John Broughton (d. 24 January 1518) of Toddington, Bedfordshire, was the son of Sir Robert Broughton by his wife, Katherine de Vere, said to have been the illegitimate daughter of John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. See Ross, James, John de Vere, Thirteenth Earl of Oxford, (Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2011), p. 187. Anne Broughton’s mother was Anne Sapcote (d. 14 March 1559). After the death of John Broughton, Anne Sapcote married secondly Sir Richard Jerningham (d.1525), and thirdly John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford; she is mentioned in the will below as the testator’s mother-in-law. For the will of Sir Robert Broughton, see TNA PROB 11/15/535. For the will of John Broughton, see TNA PROB 11/19/251. For the will of Anne (nee Sapcote) Broughton Jerningham Russell, see TNA PROB 11/42A/512. By his second marriage to Anne Broughton the testator had a son and heir: * Henry Cheyney, who married Jane Wentworth (d.1614), the daughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth, but died without issue in 1587. The testator is also said to have had a daughter by Anne Broughton; however no daughter of the testator’s second marriage is mentioned in the will below. The testator also had an illegitimate son named Davye born after his second marriage (see Brock, supra, p. 336). He is also said to have had an illegitimate daughter, although no illegitimate daughter is mentioned in the will below. OTHER PERSONS MENTIONED IN THE WILL In the will below the testator leaves a bequest to Oxford’s relation and friend, Sir George Howard (d.1580), as well as a bequest to Thomas Keyes, who later contracted an unfortunate marriage with Lady Mary Grey, and was a cousin of the testator’s son-in-law, Nicholas Crispe. The will also mentions the testator’s house at the Blackfriars in London in the tenure of Sir Thomas Cawarden, which ‘serveth for the Queen’s Majesty’s tents’.



For Anne Russell, Countess of Bedford, see the ODNB entry. Sir Thomas Finch (d.1563) was the second son of Sir William Finch (d.1553?) and Elizabeth Cromer, the daughter of Sir James Cromer. He married Katherine Moyle (d.1587), the daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Moyle (d.1560) of Eastwell, Kent, Speaker of the House of Commons, and was drowned in the wreck of the Greyhound. See the ODNB entries for Sir Thomas Finch and Sir Thomas Moyle, the will of Sir Thomas Moyle, TNA PROB 11/43/593, and Richardson, Douglas, Plantagenet Ancestry, 2nd ed., 2011, Vol. II, pp. 49-50 at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=kjme027UeagC&pg=RA1-PA50 Moyle's heir was his daughter Katherine, who married Sir Thomas Finch, ancestor of the earls of Winchilsea and Nottingham; another daughter, Amy, who married Sir Thomas Kempe, and had a son, Thomas, predeceased her father. See also the History of Parliament entry for Sir Thomas Moyle at: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/moyle-thomas-1500-60 For the wreck of the Greyhound, see Green, Nina, ‘Who was Arthur Brooke? Author of the Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet’, The Oxfordian, Vol. III, 2000, pp. 59-70. TESTATOR’S CONNECTION TO ARDEN OF FAVERSHAM The testator obtained licence in 1544 to alienate lands and buildings formerly belonging to Faversham abbey to Thomas Arden, the subject of the anonymous Elizabethan play, Arden of Faversham. See Welland, L.G., ‘Arden, I Take Thee’, The Journal of Kent Local History, No. 4 (Spring 1977), pp. 4-6, and Brock, supra, p. 260, and the ODNB entries for Edward North, 1st Baron North, and Thomas Arden. The testator died 16 December 1558 at the Tower of London, and was buried 3 January 1559 in St Katherine's chapel in the Minster on the Isle of Sheppey. For the foregoing see also Brock, supra, pp. 332-6; the ODNB entries for the testator and George Neville; Magna Carta Ancestry, supra, Vol. I, p. 170; and Tyler, Lisa, ‘Cheyne of Shurland – Sheppey, The Journal of Kent Local History, No. 4 (Spring 1977), pp. 9-11. RM: T{estamentum} Thome Chayney militis [f. 2r] In the name of God, Amen. The sixth day of December in the year of Our Lord a thousand five hundred fifty and eight and in the first year of the reign of our Sovereign



Lady Elizabeth by the grace of God Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith etc., I, Sir Thomas Cheyney, knight of th’ Order, and Treasurer of the Queen’s Majesty’s most honourable Household, although being diseased in my body yet perfect of mind and remembrance, thanks be given to Almighty God, and not unmindful of the suddenness and uncertainty of death, knowing also by course of nature the time cannot be long into which I must and shall leave the vale of this miserable and transitory world, coveting also to be disburdened thereof and longing to die and to go to God especially, and now even as I do acknowledge that for my manifold sins I have justly deserved damnation at God’s hands, yet my firm hope and very trust is that he of his great goodness will behold my humble heart, and vouchsafe to save my soul which he hath redeemed with his most precious blood, and make me a commendation of his mercy, and as I now ask forgiveness at his hands whom I have so grievously offended, which now unfeignedly from the bottom of my heart I do bewail and lament, so do I forgive all those that bear me any evil will or would me either hurt or harm, beseeching him of his infinite mercy that their faults and mine may be reformed and redressed that we may be saved souls in heaven together where we shall evermore live in endless joy and bliss, world without end; And thus being in the true faith of our mother the universal Catholic Church, and of a full hope of forgiveness of my sins and to have life everlasting, and being in perfect love and charity, I thank God, with all the whole world, I, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, do make and declare my testament and last will in manner and form following: First I give and bequeath my soul to Almighty God, most humbly beseeching him that my said soul at the dreadful day of doom may be one of the number of the elect and chosen souls that shall be then within the compass of his everlasting salvation; And I will my body to be buried at the Minster in the Isle of Sheppey in the county of Kent if I die within 40 miles of the said Isle in a chapel there where my late wife, Dame Frideswide Cheyney, and divers of mine ancestors are buried, where I do will a tomb to be made nigh unto the place where my said late wife doth lie, to put my body in, and I will that mine executors shall bestow in dirges, Masses and other obsequies and in alms-deeds to the poor people, as well at my burial as at my month’s mind and twelve months’ mind, so much money as shall stand best with the honour of God [and] my degree and calling, and as shall be most commendable and allowable; And to the intent that this my present testament and last will may take the better effect, I, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, do revoke, repeal and renounce all other testaments and wills that I have heretofore at any time made, and do will that those same be utterly void and of none effect; And now I give and bequeath to my well-beloved wife, Dame Anne Cheyney, five hundred pounds of lawful money of England, to be paid to her by mine executors or the survivors of them within six weeks next after my decease;



Item, I give and bequeath to Henry Cheyney, my son, all my household stuff, plate, silver vessel, armour, weapons, munitions, horse[s], mares, geldings, oxen, bullocks, sheep and lambs as be not hereafter in this my last will given, bequeathed, employed or otherwise disposed, to be delivered to my said son by mine executors or the survivors of them whenas he shall come to his full age of two and twenty years; Item, I give and bequeath to Dame Anne th’ elder, Countess of Bedford, in consideration of her great friendship and love borne towards me and mine, as the hope I have in the continuance thereof to my foresaid wife and my son, Henry Cheyney, after my decease, one hundred pounds of lawful money of England, to be paid unto her by mine executors or the survivors of them within six weeks next after my decease; Also I give and bequeath to Thomas Perrot, my daughter Dane Anne Perrot’s son, five hundred pounds of lawful money of England, to be paid to the said Thomas Perrot by mine executors or the survivors of them when the same Thomas Perrot shall come to the full age of one and twenty years; Item, I give and bequeath unto Frances Crispe, my daughter, five hundred pounds in plate, vessel, household stuff or otherwise at her pleasure, to be paid or delivered within 6 weeks next after my decease; Also I will and bequeath to the wife of John Stransham, nurse to the said Thomas Perrot, ten pounds, to be delivered unto her by mine executors or the survivors of them within 6 weeks next after my decease; [f. 2v] Also I give and bequeath to Anne Kempe and Alice Kempe, my daughter Dame Katherine Kempe’s daughters, two hundred pound apiece to either of them, so that the same Anne and Alice and either of them be ordered for their marriages by their father, Sir Thomas Kempe, knight, or by mine executors or the survivors of them, and do permit and suffer Richard Daper and his assigns quietly to hold, enjoy and occupy the lands and tenements South Mimms unto th’ end of the years that I by indenture have letten the same, yielding and paying the rent and performing the covenants according to the meaning of the same lease, the said several legacies to be paid unto them at the day of their marriages by mine executors or the survivor of them if the same Anne and Alice so long live; And if it shall fortune the same Anne and Alice or any of them do die before they or she be married, or that the same Anne and Alice or any of them do refuse to be ordered by their said father or mine executors and the survivors of them, or will not permit or suffer the said Daper and his assigns to enjoy the premises accordingly as is afore mentioned, then I will that the two hundred pounds bequeathed to her that shall so die or refuse to be ordered or to permit the occupation as aforesaid shall remain to the performance of this my present testament and last will, and that neither the said Anne and Alice so dying or refusing shall take any benefit or advantage by any legacy made by this my present testament;



Also I give and bequeath to Sir John Perrot, my son-in-law, two hundred pound in money and one of my horse[s]; And to Sir Thomas Kempe, my son-in-law, one hundred pounds and a horse; And to Sir Thomas Finch forty pound and a horse; And to William Oxenden, esquire, ten pounds; And to Avery Randoll ten pounds; And unto Anthony Bradley twenty pounds; And to Richard Daper, my servant, twenty pound; And to Marmion, my servant, twenty pounds; And to my servant Thowxborough ten pounds; And to my late servant Mervyn, one of the Ushers of the Queen’s Hall, ten pounds; And to my late servant Randoll Thirkill, one of the Sewers of the Hall, ten pounds; And to Anne Smythe, widow, sometime my servant, ten pounds; And to Ursula Forder, sometime my servant, forty pounds; Also I give and bequeath to every of the rest of my household servants being in my bill of wages and in this my will not otherwise provided for one whole year’s wages over and above such sum and sums of money as shall be due to any of them by me for their wages or otherwise at the time of my death, the same to be paid by mine executors or the survivors of them within three months after my death; Item, I will that my son Crispe and his wife by consent and order of the rest of mine executors shall hold and occupy my mansion house at Shurland and all the lands and stock which I shall have in my manurance and occupation at the time of my death, and at Shurland aforesaid to keep household, and as many of tho [=those] which be my household servants at the time of my death as be disposed to use and take it shall have there freely meat, drink and lodging until the time that my said son shall accomplish the age of two and twenty years so long as they be of honest demeanour towards my said son Crispe, his wife, and the rest of mine executors, and not become servant or servants unto any other person or persons; Also I will and bequeath to the making of a house on the south side of the Ride ferry for the market folk and other comers and goers to stand dry in and to the mending and maintaining of ferry wall on that side one hundred marks, the same to be bestowed by



mine executors or the survivors of them in as short time as conveniently may be after my decease if it be not done before; Also I will and bequeath towards the inning of a salt-marsh called the King’s Ferry marsh and other salt-marshes in the Isle of Sheppey adjoining to the same, and for the making of the highway within the said Isle towards the same ferry called the King’s Ferry one thousand marks, the same to be bestowed by mine executors or the survivor of them as shortly after my decease as conveniently may be if it be not done in my lifetime; Also I give and bequeath towards the repairing and amendment of the church and steeple of Minster aforesaid 10(?) pounds; Also I will that there be bestowed money to the poor people inhabiting within the Isle of Sheppey, Harty, and hundreds of Milton, Teynham and Faversham one hundred pounds of lawful money of England at the discretion of mine executors or the survivors of them; Item I will that in discharge of my conscience mine executors or the survivors or survivor of them shall pay unto (blank) wicke(?) of Faversham the sum of threescore pounds, [f. 3r] fourscore and ten pounds, or a hundred pounds as they shall think expedient, so that he do release unto mine heirs all the right, title, interest and demand that he may or can claim in or to any lands or tenements within the Isle of Sheppey in the occupation of me or any of my farmers or assigns, and in and to all arrearages of profits or rents concerning the same, and do also for a more clearness deliver all evidences and writings concerning the same, which recompense before mentioned I am assured is much more than the just value of his right; Also I will that my chapel at Minster where I have appointed my body to be buried be newly made and amended where need is by mine executors or the survivor of them in as short time as conveniently may be after my deceased, and also a tomb of marble [+or?] fine stone to be made and graven with pictures as to my said executors or the survivors of them shall be thought most meet and convenient; And I will that there be a discreet priest provided by the discretion of mine executors or the survivor of them to celebrate and say Mass there to pray for my soul, my father’s soul, my mother’s soul, for my friends’ souls, and all Christian souls, and to say Mass at the least three days in the week yearly during the time of the nonage of my son, Henry Cheyney, and the same priest to have for his salary or wages yearly during all the said time twenty pound of lawful money of England to be paid unto him by the hands of mine executors or the survivors or survivor of them; Item, I bequeath to William Cromer, esquire, son-in-law to Sir Thomas Kempe, knight, fifty pounds and a horse or a gelding upon condition that the daughter of the said William Cromer by the said Sir Thomas Kempe’s daughter had do permit and suffer Richard Daper and his assigns to hold and enjoy her part of the said lands and tenements (blank) South Mimms unto the end of the years contained in the lease that I made, yielding the rent and performing the covenants as aforesaid;



Item, I bequeath to Benett, sometime my maid, forty pounds, Alice, my kinswoman and servant £20; Also I give and bequeath to Sir George Howard, knight, forty pound and a horse; And to my son, Nicholas Crispe, a horse and a gelding of the best that he will chose, and he to have the choice; Item, I will to John Fowler, esquire, twenty pounds; And to Thomas Keyes, esquire, forty pounds; And to Charles Howard, twenty pound and a horse or a gelding; And to Doctor Martyn, my physician, ten pound; Item, I bequeath to my very good Lords, th’ Earl of Bedford and th’ Earl of Pembroke, to each of them one hundred pounds and a horse, and to my Lord William Howard, Lord Chamberlain, fifty pounds and a horse, beseeching them to stand and continue good Lords aiding and assisting unto mine executors and the survivors or survivor of them in all their causes and affairs wherein they shall need the same towards and for the due performing of this my present testament and last will; Finally, where in this my present testament and last will heretofore I have given and hereunder do give to divers of my servants, some by special name and to some by general, divers and several legacies and bequests, my will and full meaning is that no one of my said servants to whom I have bequeathed any such gift shall take any benefit by the same but such of them as shall continue in my service so long as I shall live, and also faithfully and truly do aid, comfort and assist my said executors and the survivors of them after my decease in all things that they shall be reasonably required concerning the performance of this my testament & last will; And I will that all the debts that I do owe to any person or persons for any cause or matter be truly paid in discharge of my conscience; This is the last will of me, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, made the day and year first above-written concerning the disposition of all my manors, lands and tenements and other my hereditaments which I, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, have the day of making hereof within the county of Kent or elsewhere within any city, shire or county of this realm of England; And first, for and to th’ intent that an ample and very full and large third part should be unto the use of the Queen’s most excellent Majesty, my Sovereign Lady, for wardship, livery, primer seisin or otherwise as the case shall require, to be had of all my manors, lands and tenements and hereditaments with th’ appurtenances which I, the said Sir



Thomas Cheyney, am seised of the day of making of this my present last will within this realm of England, I, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, according to the laws & statutes of this realm do leave to descend unto my right heir the manors, lands, tenements and hereditaments next hereafter mentioned, that is to say, all and [f. 3v] singular my manors, lands, tenements and hereditaments whatsoever with their appurtenances which now be or late were in the several tenures and occupations of these persons whose names hereafter ensueth, that is to wit, Richard Patwyn, John Norden of Sittingbourne, Peter Hame, Ralph Rogers, gentleman, William Callcott(?) of Skeddington, William Swalmon, John Elmar, John Colesele, James Colesell, Henry Elyott, (blank) Ferybye, John Clinton’s widow, John Sogar’s widow of the Isle of Grain, the ferryman of the Ryde ferry, John Arnold and William Arnold, John Bussyn, (blank) Chylde of Leyson, Peter Byssye, Thomas Sampson, Robert Sampson, Robert Hircis(?), Thomas Borne, Anthony Higecok(?), Christopher Harrys, John Ambrosse of Harty, Thomas Paramer of Harty, Thomas Mayre of Gillingham, John Porreye now Norden, John Elyott, John Dymmesdale, John Crowcher, John Wood(?) of Milton, John Warner of Milton, Thomas Harrys, William Wreeke, Thomas Horton of Minster, and William Grayne of Minster, and in the occupation of Salmon Wylkyn other than Bynney Court, which manors, lands and tenements with their appurtenances thus appointed and left to descend be of the clear yearly value of nine hundred and fifty pounds and better above all charges; And whereas I, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, before the espousals between me and my well-beloved wife, Dame Anne Cheyney, had and solemnized, did assure unto the use of my said wife for term of her life for her jointure in full recompense of her dower out of all my foresaid manors, lands, tenements and hereditaments with their appurtenances these manors, lands and tenements ensuing, that is to say, the manor of Bilsington with the appurtenances in the county of Kent, and certain lands in Harty now in the occupation of Ralph Woolegate, and a certain marsh called Siotyshe(?) marsh now in the occupation of (blank) Miller of the Seller [=Cellar?], as by the several writings thereof made more at large it doth and may appear, my will is that my said wife shall peaceably enjoy the said manors, lands and tenements with their appurtenances during her natural life without let or interruption of my said son, Henry Cheyney, whom I charge upon my blessing that he do permit her so to do during the said term; And after the death of my said wife, I will the said manors, lands, tenements and all other the premises shall remain to my said son and to the heirs of his body lawfully begotten; And if it shall fortune my said son to die without heirs of his body lawfully begotten (as God forbid), then I will that the said manors, lands and tenements with th’ appurtenances shall wholly remain to my cousin John Cheyney of Woddy, esquire, and to th’ heirs males of his body lawfully begotten, upon condition that he or they or any of them shall not alien or discontinue nor cause or suffer to be discontinued the remainder thereof hereafter mentioned or any of them or any part of them or any of them; And for default of such heirs males of his body lawfully begotten, I will that the same manors, lands and tenements with th’ appurtenances shall wholly remain to my next heirs males and to the heirs males of their bodies;



And for default of such heirs males, I will that the same manors, lands and tenements with their appurtenances shall wholly remain to the right heirs of me, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, knight, forever; And also I will that my daughter-in-law, Margaret Poole, late wife to my son John Cheyney, deceased, shall peaceably enjoy to her and her assigns during her natural life my manor of Jeffereys with the appurtenances in the county of Kent, my mill called Melton mill, and my marsh called Blaborowe marsh, late in th’ occupation of John Seathe of Milton, certain land and marsh called Rydyswale and Tovilones late in th’ occupation of Sir John Norton, knight, certain lands at Milton now or late in th’ occupation of one (blank) Luke(?) of Milton, certain lands in the parish of Norton now or late in th’ occupation of one John Derton of Teynham, certain lands in the parish of Doddington now or late in th’ occupation of one Dyes, widow, certain lands in the parish of Teynham now or late in th’ occupation of one John Washingdon, a messuage or tenement with th’ appurtenances in the city of Canterbury(?) late in the occupation of Thomas Hardes, esquire, the parsonage of Newynham with all manner of glebe lands, tithes and profits thereunto belonging, certain lands lying in a field called Hoggdale field besides Faversham now in the tenure or occupation of (blank), the house of the late nunnery of Davington with certain lands and other commodities therewith all letten late in th’ occupation of John Dryland th’ elder, a certain meadow under Davington wall now or late in th’ occupation of Joseph Beverley, a small messuage or tenement under the said wall, one acre of land lying in Hornefeld late in th’ occupation of one Thomas [f. 4r] Thomas, a certain mill called Ore mill, and a certain parcel of land late in the tenure of (blank) Goodhewe, miller there, a parcel of land late in th’ occupation of one Adam Sowgate, a parcel of land in the parish of Moungton now or late in th’ occupation of one Egeney(?) Goodwyn, a parcel of land in the parish of Selling now or late in th’ occupation of one John Olberd, seven acres di land adjoining to the house of Heirbalden(?) and in th’ occupation of the brethren and sisters of the same house, a parcel of land in the parish of Ashe next Sandwich now or late in th’ occupation of one Robert Southensond(?), a parcel of land in the parish of Davington late in the tenure of Ralph Symon’s widow, a croft of land called Mynchin croft late in the tenure of James Eyston, Bynny court, now in the tenure of Salmon Wylkin, a parcel or portion of tithes out of the parsonage of Norton of six and twenty shillings eight pence by the year, and five pound seventeen shillings two pence halfpenny by the year of rent of assize belonging to Nownham, Mouncton, Ospringe, Faversham or Stmmonts(?) and Saint Peter’s in the Isle of Thanet, certain farm land and rent in Histinge(?) and Collington in the county of Sussex late in the occupation of John Isted, a house at the Blackfriars in London now in the tenure of Sir Thomas Cawarden, knight, and serveth for the Queen’s Majesty’s tents, and another house there late in the tenure of John Beamound, all which manors, lands and tenements with th’ appurtenances I, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, have assured to th’ use of the said Margaret Poole for her jointure in consideration of the marriage had and solemnized between my said son, John Cheyney, and the said Margaret;



And after the decease of the same Margaret Poole, I will all the said manors, lands, tenements and other the premises last above rehearsed shall remain to my said son, Henry Cheyney, and to th’ heirs of his body lawfully begotten; And if it fortune him to die without issue of his body lawfully begotten, then I will that all the same manors, lands and tenements with th’ appurtenances shall remain to my foresaid cousin, John Cheyney, and to th’ heirs males of his body lawfully begotten, upon condition that he or they or any of them shall not alien or discontinue or cause or suffer to be discontinued the remainders thereof hereafter mentioned or any of them or any part of them or any of them; And for default of such heirs males of his body lawfully begotten, I will that all the same lands and other the premises with the appurtenances shall wholly remain to the next heirs males of me, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, and to the heirs males of their bodies; And for default of such heirs males, then I will they remain to my next heirs forever; Item, I will and bequeath to my son-in-law, Nicholas Crispe, and to my daughter Crispe, his wife, for term of their lives and the longer liver of them my manor of Sturry with th’ appurtenances in the county of Kent; And after their death to remain to my said son, Henry, and to the heirs of his body lawfully begotten; And for lack of such issue to remain to my foresaid cousin, John Cheyney, and to th’ heirs males of his body lawfully begotten, upon condition that he or they or any of them shall not alien or discontinue or cause or suffer to be discontinued the remainders thereof hereafter mentioned or any of them or any part of them or any of them; And for lack of such heirs males of his body lawfully begotten, I will the said manor with th’ appurtenances shall wholly remain to the next heirs males of me, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, and to the heirs males of their bodies, and for default of such heirs males, then I will the same remain to my next heirs forever; Also I give and bequeath to my said cousin, John Cheyney, and to Dorothy, his wife, my manor of Aston Tirrold with th’ appurtenances in the county of Oxford, and to th’ heirs males of their two bodies lawfully begotten, upon condition that they or any of them shall not alien or discontinue nor cause or suffer to be discontinued the remainders thereof hereafter mentioned or any of them or any part of them or any of them; And for default of such issue male of their two bodies lawfully begotten, I will the said manor with the appurtenances shall remain to my said son and to th’ heirs of his body; And for default of such issue to remain to my next heirs males and to the heirs males of their bodies;



And for default of such heirs males, then I will the same remain to my next heirs forever; And out of the residue of all my manors, lands, tenements and hereditaments I do give, grant and bequeath unto William Fourder, husband of Ursula, sometime [f. 4v] my servant, one yearly rent of four pounds during his life; Idem, to Thomas Cheyney, my servant and kinsman, one yearly rent of twenty pound by year during my cousin his father’s life; Idem, to my servant and kinsman, Edward Cheyney, one yearly rent of twenty pounds by year until such time as he may dispend £40 by year by marriage or otherwise; Idem, to Henry Tenante(?), my servant, one yearly rent of four pound by year during his life if sickness be not the cause of his absence from me, and to Thomas Bell, my servant, one yearly rent of four pound by year during his life if they be my servant at the time of my death; Idem, to William Bury of Canterbury, my servant, one yearly rent of four pound by year during his life; And to John Bishop, my lackey, one yearly rent of four marks by the year during his life; And to Davyers’ brother one yearly rent of four marks by year during his life; And to Emvades(?), my servant, one yearly rent of four pounds by year until he be better provided; And to Edward Straytte(?), my servant, one yearly rent of four pound in like manner; And to John Inge, my servant, one yearly rent of four pounds in like manner; And to Thomas Austye, my servant, one yearly rent of four pound in like manner; And to Richard Johnson, my servant, one yearly rent of four pound by the said Johnson for his part to be taken and had of my part of the manor of Harlingdon in the county of Bedford, upon condition that he do serve me during my life as he shall be appointed, and after my death to serve my said son in like manner, and also to be aiding and assisting unto mine executors as they shall require in and for the performance of this my last will; And also I give and bequeath unto Davye, my bastard son, during his life out of the said residue of my said manors, lands and tenements one yearly rent of twenty pound, upon condition that he be ordered by my said executors and the survivors of them, and that the same Davye do not bargain, sell, give, alien, put away or mortgage the same yearly rent of twenty pounds nor any part or parcel thereof nor make any shift nor consent or suffer to be done any manner of act to alter or change the said yearly rent or any part thereof from himself to any person or persons or to any other use, profit or commodity other than



to his own proper use, finginge(sic for finding?) and relief of his wife and children and family; if he shall have [=behave] any other wise this my grant to be utterly void and of none effect; And further I will that my said executors or the survivors of them shall receive the said yearly rent of twenty pound until the said Davye shall come to the full age of one and twenty years, and with the same during the minority of the said Davye to find and bring him up in such sort as the capacity and towardness of the same Davye shall require and as to their discretions shall be thought just, meet and convenient; And also I give and grant to Edward Awcher, my servant, so long as he will exercise the office of collectorship that he is now in and doth exercise the day of the date hereof one yearly rent of eight pound out of the said residue of my said manor[s], lands and tenements; Provided always & my mind and will is that the first payment of every of the said yearly rents in form aforesaid granted shall begin at such of the feasts of Saint Michael th’ Archangel or th’ Annunciation of Our Lady as shall first happen next after my decease; And further I will that if the said several yearly rents before rehearsed by me, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, in form aforesaid given and granted or any of them or any other yearly rent that I, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, shall give and grant hereafter in this my present testament and last will shall happen at any time hereafter to be behind and not paid at the feasts in which it ought to be paid by the space of fifteen days, being lawfully demanded, that then it shall be lawful to all and every the person and persons to whom the same yearly rents or any of them be granted and shall be unpaid to enter into all my said manors, lands and tenements and other the premises whereout the same are limited to be going, and there to distrain and the distress so taken to lead, bear, drive and carry away and impound until th’ arrearages togethers with the costs and charges in that behalf sustained be paid, anything herein contained to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding; Further I will and grant to mine executors and to the survivors of them towards and for the performing of this my last will all the [f. 5r] rents, issues and profits of all my manors, lands, tenements, revenues & hereditaments with their appurtenances not being left unto my said right heir nor in possession bequeathed to my said cousin, John Cheyney, and his wife nor unto my son-in-law, Nicholas Crispe, and his wife as aforesaid, and also the profits that shall arise and grow for my sheep and bullocks and other the premises, which profits togethers with the profits of the premises in possession as aforesaid bequeathed unto the said Nicholas Crispe and his wife [+and?] John Cheyney and his wife, after their estate or estates determined, I will that my said executors and the survivors or survivor of them shall take, have and enjoy unto such time as my said son, Henry Cheyney, shall come to the full age of two and twenty years or might have come to the same if he had lived, and longer if need shall be, for and towards the only performing of this my last will and testament, except and reserved all timber, trees, woods and underwoods growing in and upon the premises other than such as shall serve either for necessary reparations or fuel to be spent for and abouts the premises, or as much and as many thorns and wood as



will serve for stakes and tinnet to make the hedges about the grounds and enclose the springs and woods as they are now at this present day, and specially in the Isle of Sheppey, which to be done in form aforesaid I require and charge mine executors and the survivors of them and also my heirs as they will answer before God at the day of doom as far as lieth in them to see the same accomplished accordingly; And if it should not, the Isle of Sheppey would grow in such ruin and decay for lack of fuel and other the premises, a thing being so necessary to be considered as well for man as for beast, that the county would be so bleak and cold as neither man nor beast should be able to continue there, nor yet sow any manner corn but the same would be destroyed with cattle; And after my said son, Henry, shall accomplish th’ age of two and twenty years and sufficiency had by mine executors or the survivors of them for the performing of this my last will and testament, then I will that all my said manors, lands, tenements and hereditaments, the profits whereof I have before limited towards the performance of this my last will and testament, shall remain and come to the said Henry, my son, and to th’ heirs of his body lawfully begotten; And for lack of such issue to remain to my foresaid cousin, John Cheyney, and to th’ heirs males of his body lawfully begotten, upon condition that he or they or any of them shall not alien or discontinue nor cause or suffer to be aliened or discontinued the remainders hereof hereafter limited or any of them or any part of them or any of them; And for lack of heirs males of his body lawfully begotten, I will the said manors, lands and tenements and hereditaments shall wholly remain unto the next heirs males of me, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, and to th’ heirs males of their bodies; And for default of such heirs males, then I will the same remain to my next heirs forever; Moreover my will is that my executors or the survivors or survivor of them shall find so much ready money due and good debts (as I am sure they shall; at the least I am sure I had as much in ready money and in due debts in good and sufficient men’s hands the day of making hereof), as will discharge all my bequests and legacies in this my last will and testament contained, and more a great deal is like to increase for the time that it shall please God to continue my life; My said executors shall find in writing in my little steel casket which I do use to carry with me wheresoever I go how much ready money I have, how much is owing me of due debts, fees and all other ways, and they shall perceive by my books in my study at Shurland how much money and of whom is owing unto me by farmers and tenants at the day of my departing out of this miserable world, for they that have paid be crossed in my books and they that have not paid are uncrossed;



This my order from half year to half year, saving Beverley and Johnson; their charges will appear by their books of account, Beverley’s books in my study aforesaid and Johnson’s are in a square coffer which I all(?) use to carry with me, or else in my study; My will and meaning is that mine executors or the survivors or survivor of them, finding as much ready money and good and [f. 5v] due debt as will discharge all the premises with their reasonable charges about th’ execution of this my present testament and last will, that then my said executors or the survivors or survivor of them shall answer and account with mine heirs or assigns for the overplus, whatsoever it be, that shall then remain in their hands or in th’ hands or custody of any of them; And so I end, and ordain and make my brother-in-law, Sir Henry Crispe, knight, my son-in-law, Nicholas Crispe, and my daughter Crispe his wife, Robert Catlyn, esquire, one of the Justices of the Common Pleas, and Roger Manwood, gentleman, my executors of this my present testament and last will; And I will, give and bequeath to every one of my said executors for their pains in that behalf to be taken as followeth, that is to say, unto the said Sir Henry Crispe one hundred pounds, unto my son Nicholas Crispe and his wife threescore pounds apiece, unto the said Justice Catlyn threescore pounds, and unto the said Roger Manwood threescore pounds, over and besides their reasonable costs and charges; In witness whereof I, the said Sir Thomas Cheyney, unto this my present testament and last will have set to my hand & seal the said sixth day of December in the first year of the reign of our said Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth first above-mentioned; Witness of this will made and pronounced: Thomas Cheyney, Thomas Cawarden. By me, William Watson. Ralph Chamberlain, and others. Probatum fuit h{uius}mo{d}i Testamentu{m} coram Decano et Capitulo Eccl{es}ie metropolit{a}n{e} xpi cant{uariensis} apud London vicesimo quinto die mensis Aprilis Anno D{omi}ni millesimo quingentesimo quinquagesimo nono Iuramento Henrici Cryspe militis et nicholai Cryspe p{er}sonaliter p{rese}ntium et ffrancisce cryspe eius uxoris dicti nich{ola}i in persona eiusd{e}m nich{ola}i mariti sui Ac Rogeri mannwood in persona Edmundi Brudnell procur{ator}is sui Executoru{m} in h{uius}mo{d}i Testamento no{m}i{n}at{orum} Quibus com{m}issa fuit Administrac{i}o omniu{m} et singulorum bonoru{m} de bene et fideliter administrand{o} ac de pleno et fideli Inventario conficiend{o} illudq{ue} exhibend{o} et introducend{o} &c Reseruata potestate alteri Executor{i} etiam in h{uius}mo{d}i Testamento no{m}i{n}at{o} cum venerit admissur{o} &c [=The same testament was proved before the Dean and Chapter of the Metropolitan Church of Christ of Canterbury at London on the twenty-fifth day of the month of April in the year of the Lord the thousand five hundred fifty-ninth by the oath of Henry Crispe,



knight, and Nicholas Crispe, personally present, and Frances Crispe, [-his] wife of the said Nicholas Crispe, in the person of the same Nicholas, her husband, and Roger Manwood in the person of Edmund Brudenell, his proctor, executors named in the same testament, to whom administration was granted of all and singular the goods, [+sworn] to well and faithfully administer, and to prepare a full and faithful inventory and exhibit the same, and introduce etc., with power reserved to the other executor also named in the same testament when he shall have come to be admitted etc.]

Documents

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES PROB 11/42B/105 1 SUMMARY: The ... · appointed as executor Cyriac Petit, a party in the lawsuit alluded to in the gravediggers’ scene in Shakespeare’s Hamlet